The ISO/IEC certification underpins confidence in the quality of medical laboratories through a process that verifies their integrity, impartiality, and competence.

Mr Teferi Mekonen, Programme Manager, African Society of Laboratory Medicine (ASLM) and Coordinator, Stepwise Laboratory Quality Improvement Process Towards Accreditation (SLIPTA) made the disclosure during the closing ceremony of the Sixth Biennial Conference of African Society of Laboratory Medicine (2023ASLM), in Cape Town, South Africa.

He went ahead to say 217 Medical Research/Public Health/Blood Banks and Transfusion Services research laboratories are ISO/IEC 17025 accredited across eight countries on the continent including Cote d'Ivoire, Egypt, Ethiopia, Kenya, Mali, Nigeria, South Africa, and Togo.

The Programme Manager said some 37 Veterinary and Animal Health diagnostics research laboratories are ISO/IEC 17025 in nine countries in Africa-Egypt, Ethiopia, Kenya, Nigeria, Namibia, South Africa, Tanzania, Zambia, and Zimbabwe.

He said seven research laboratories have been categorised as External Quality Assessment (EQA) proficiency testing panel providers of ISO/IEC 17043 across five countries, namely, Egypt, Kenya, South Africa, Tunisia, and Uganda.

On the laboratory accreditation achievements by the regional blocs, the Programme Manager added that the Southern Africa bloc recorded a 61.4 per cent accreditation and followed by the East African bloc with 28 per cent.

North Africa achieved a 5.1 per cent and followed by West Africa with a 4.5 per cent score with Ghana gaining only three accreditations in 2023 with Central Africa making a 0.6 per cent achievement.

Again, Accreditation bodies in Africa and the number of ISO 15189 and deliverables in 2023 include the South African National Accreditation System came with 627, South African Development Community Accreditation 131 and Kenya Accreditation Service (KENAS)

Ethiopian Accreditation Service (EAS) scored 47 and the Egyptian Accreditation Council (EAC) made 43 accreditations.

College of American Pathologists (CAP), Medical Laboratory Science Council of Nigeria and Systeme Ouest Africain d'Accreditation (SOAC) recorded 16, 14 and 11, respectively.

Mauritius Accreditation Service (MAURITAS), Comite Francais d'Accreditation (COFRAC), Tunisia Accreditation and Service (TUNAG), Nigerian National Accreditation Service (NINAS), Joint Commission International (JCI) and Institute of Quality Management and Healthcare delivering between seven and one accreditation.

The conference was themed"Shaping Laboratory Systems and Diagnostics Services for the 21st Century: Embracing the Change."

This year's conference brought together leading experts from the laboratories, public health, and clinical fields to discuss innovative and latest technical advancements, policy developments and shared experiences in laboratory medicine in Africa for the attainment of universal health coverage (UHC).